That Time in New York

That Time in New York is a politically progressive who-done-it set at the end of 2005. The protagonist is an outspoken Cuban mulatta, Válaria Hernández (named for Vladimir Lenin), who is loyal to her country and is in New York for a short fiancée visit with Bill, whom she met in That Time in Havana, "although I am not your fiancée!" She has many experiences with her new African American, gay and/or left wing friends, and some not so liberal, including becoming embroiled in tensions at a local progressive school that lead to murder. Issues are put in perspective for the reader with flashbacks to events from the 40s to 60s.

Divorced Cuban social worker Válairia Hernández (named for Vladimir Lenin), the outspoken mulatta, who met her first foreigner and solved her first murder in That Time in Havana, comes to New York in 2005 for a brief fiancée visit "but I am not your fiancée", fulfilling a longtime wish to travel. The story is told through the perspectives of key characters, a gay couple, a divorced professor and single father, a lesbian couple, a couple facing an empty nest, as well as community leaders, but we see New York and them through Laira's Cuban eyes as she encounters and counters U.S. misconceptions about Cuba and shares experiences with her new gay, lesbian, Jewish, and diaspora African-American friends. She also becomes embroiled in the tensions of an upstate New York progressive school that result in murder, and in which she becomes a suspect. Flashbacks to left wing events in the 40s through 60s help to orient the reader who may not be familiar with them or might just enjoy reliving them.

A longtime mystery lover and political activist raised in New York, Carolina had the unique opportunity- for a US citizen- to live and work for ten years in Havana, Cuba. She has been a social worker, teacher, journalist and editor, as well as a mother and grandmother. She brings all of those interests and experiences to That Time in New York.